Email Article

Printable Page

Fake Fraternalism

By Lawrence C. Ross Jr.
Black College Wire

I was absolutely thrilled to read Dominic Hunter’s column on the Kappa Alpha Psi hazing case ("Frat Members Should Not Have Been Punished for Hazing," Feb. 14), mainly because it’s so rare that you get an opportunity for insight into the warped and illogical thought processes that make hazing such an insidious part of the African American fraternal experience.

Lawrence C. Ross Jr.

It is through Hunter’s “distraught mind” that we understand that there are a lot of black fraternal members who see nothing wrong with breaking their oaths and causing destruction in the name of their organizations. No, unlike what most people think, in their brains the solution is simple: It’s the victim’s fault.

To understand the mentality of Divine Nine members like Hunter, you have to understand one thing — their fraternal oath means nothing. It is a suggestion, a whimsical bit of words created by long-dead men and women when concepts like fidelity, loyalty and trust were quaint concepts. Oh, sure, they may prance around campus shouting to the heavens about how they “love” their organization, but when it really comes down to it, they love themselves much, much more than they love their fraternal organization.

Now, why would I say that? Well, all who take an oath into a fraternal organization say that they will not betray the ideals and bylaws of their organizations. Every black fraternal member pledges to uphold the rules, and collectively move his or her organization forward through positive actions. Yes, that’s the real meaning of the word "pledge."

When Hunter, or people who think like him, decide to create an illegal, criminal and dangerous underground pledge process, it’s a natural progression for people who despise their oath, and hate their fraternal organization. Their selfishness should be a given to everyone who knows them, and to assume that they even think about following their fraternity’s rules is folly.

So it logically follows in Hunter’s mind this simple thought: Why in the world would any pledge be dumb enough to believe that he really upholds his fraternity’s rules? It’s the pledge’s fault, according to Hunter, for believing that.

So when Hunter asks, “Why do pledges allow this behavior?” I say, bravo! You see, the fraternity men beating their pledges have already sold their souls, proved themselves bankrupt of morals and betrayers of their fraternal principles, so the least a pledge can do in order to protect these cowardly men is to figure out that the process they’re going through for the first time is a criminal one. I mean, if uninitiated pledges can’t recognize that the process is wrong, and stand up for an oath they're yet to take, then shame on them, I say!

And besides, according to Hunter, pledging is all voluntary. There are two different and distinct options when it comes to pledging. For the uninformed, let me break it down for you:

There’s Option No. 1, which is the official pledge process as done by fraternal members, and sanctioned by the national organization. The people who follow Option No. 1 have yet to have one hazing incident, and have safely provided entry into their respective organizations year after year. This is in accordance with their oaths.

Option No. 2 is the pledge process offered illegally by fake fraternity members like Hunter. Whoa, you say! That’s harsh and personal, to call someone fake. But wait, think about what I’m saying for a second. If you don’t do something real, you’re fake, right? The real pledge process is the one approved by the fraternity. Real members follow that process. If Hunter advocates a fake option for a voluntary process that doesn’t exist officially, then he, and those who conduct it, must be fake members.

And when you understand that Hunter is a fake member, then it all becomes crystal clear. You understand that his fakeness allows him to feel sorry for those who were sent to jail for breaking the law, both fraternally and legally. Hunter bleeds for the two Kappas who are going to do real time for breaking the law. They are brothers in their fake fraternalism!

Their actions are his actions. Everyone knows that they are not responsible for beating someone so badly with wooden canes that blood stopped flowing in the pledge's buttocks. Like a battered woman who keeps putting her face in the way of a husband’s fist, the pledge is to blame. I mean, come on! The brothers throwing those canes are the real victims in this tragedy. How could they control themselves when presented with the opportunity to beat willing pledges? Impossible!

But alas, the rest of us live in the real world. Hunter and the two Kappas who are now in jail for two years are finding out that being fake brothers can have consequences. Fake brothers cause real injuries that can send you to jail for real time. I don’t shed a tear for the Kappas in jail, except for the notion that as young educated black men, they had real opportunities to avoid their plight, but chose not to. And now they pay the piper. C’est la vie.

But I have a warning for Hunter and those black Greeks who think like him. The day of the fake black Greek is coming to an end. Create a fake pledge process and you’ll end up in a real jail. And despite how much you’d love to blame the brutalized pledge for your plight, the responsibility will be all your own.

Lawrence C. Ross Jr., a M.F.A. candidate at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, is author of "The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities." To comment, e-mail [email protected].

Posted Feb. 16, 2007

Does Not Fly in the 21st Century

To the editor:

Brother Hunter is nuts. He must be on crack. No one should be subjected to hazing. I think two years is not enough time. I think the frat needs to compensate the victim monetarily. Hazing of any form is against the law. "That I got my . . . beat so should you" does not fly in the 21st century.

D Keith Thomas
Cleveland
Feb. 16, 2007

Here's An Extension of That Logic

To the editor:

I completely understand Dominic Hunter's reasoning for these frat members not being punished. By the same logic, every African American who never left America during enslavement, and especially once it was no longer legal, should not be eligible for reparations.

Yes, we were terrorized on a daily basis and beaten and raped and murdered. But, after all, didn't we voluntarily stick around to get more abuse when we had the chance to leave? Does one who stays in an abusive relationship have the right to cry foul? Do the abused have any rights at all?

On the other hand, do the silly mind games of a "frat initiation" carry any weight in relation to the tests of moral, physical and spiritual strength of a real initiation in traditional societies? Are these frats making men or minions?

Kakhufu Ankhsiamen
Baltimore
Feb. 16, 2007

One Reason Why I Rejected Efforts to Recruit Me

To the editor:

First of all, athletes do not intentionally inflict injury on each other. Second, athletes must undergo extensive physical conditioning and pass a physical exam before being allowed to play.

These conditions also apply to people who volunteer to participate in the Army Rangers, triathlons, marathons and other events that test a person's physical and mental limits. Persons who engage in such events do so only after signing legal waivers that acknowledge that the activities they are engaging in are legal, that they are in physical condition to participate in said events, that they realize the risks involved and that they were not pressured into participating. None of these conditions existed in the FAMU incident.

I wonder if Mr. Hunter actually read his comments before they were published. If he had, he might have realized that his defense of hazing is very similar to comments used to defend domestic violence. Mr. Hunter says:

"In the hazing process, one subjects himself to whatever happens to him. Therefore, he chooses to remain around for the abuse. To receive the abuse Marcus Jones did, an individual had to sit still and let someone beat on him, meaning the fault should be no one's but his own."

Women in relationships with rich, powerful or well-known men subject themselves to abuse because they don't want to lose the perks of being in such relationships. Mr. Jones so wanted to be in the frat that he was willing to subject himself to physical abuse to join.

I'm in California, where a woman drowned and a young man died of water poisoning during frat hazings. Mr. Hunter's attitude reflects on why the judge issued such a harsh sentence. In the past, frat chapters caught hazing have ignored disciplinary actions and just moved hazing underground or off campus. The judge's message was intended to say that if you blatantly disregard the law against hazing, you will go to jail.

Finally, hazing is one reason why I rejected all efforts to recruit me into a frat when I was in college and why I strongly discourage any young person from having anything to do with the frats. The Black frats were established because they were the only support and networking organizations for Black college students and Black professionals. Today there are hundreds of Black support and networking organizations on campus and in the professional world that offer the fellowship and lifetime professional opportunities once exclusively offered by the Black Greek organizations.

At a time when the future of the Black frats is threatened by the low number of Black men in college and a perception among many young people that Black frats are ol' school relics of the civil rights era, Mr. Hunter should be working to get more Black youths into college rather than defending a practice that is just as illegal as sexual or racial discrimination and as socially unacceptable as the Ole' Miss football team waving the Confederate flag.

Harrison Chastang
San Francisco
Feb. 16, 2007

A Message to the Knuckleheads

To the editor:

Dominic Hunter's perspective on the jail sentence of two Florida A&M students is almost laughable despite the graveness of this situation. His sophomoric reasoning and immature logic is the bedrock of why this nonsense continues. Kappa Alpha Psi , he claims, "frowns on hazing." Not so, Kappa Alpha Psi banned hazing in 1949. I pledged in December 1952 at Morgan State University and apparently, not much has changed since then. Paddling was the weapon (and that's what it is) of choice, but today punching and caning have been added — much like getting "jumped in" the Crips and the Bloods. I'd like to think all fraternities/sororities are nobler, more worthwhile than a street gang. What truly lies at the heart of the matter is you have 19 or 20 year olds, like Bro. Hunter, blinded with the cock-eyed notion of what constitutes manhood running amok on our campuses testing the macho quotient of pledgees. The central theme of physical assault on individuals until they have "proved they are worthy" is not only idiotic but barbaric, sadistic and criminal.

Was two years a little harsh? Perhaps. Was it necessary? Absolutely. Over the years, expulsions and suspensions of individuals and chapters have not worked, A young lady died pledging a sorority a couple of years ago on the West Coast and a Kappa pledgee died at Southwest Missouri State recently. I sincerely hope the two young men will have their sentences cut because of good behavior and then get on with their lives and become productive citizens. I also hope this sends a message to all the knuckleheads out there that it will no longer be business as usual when it comes to pledging. In fact, if I were pledging today, I would keep a copy of a newspaper account of this incident in my wallet and pull it out every time somebody stood in front of me with a paddle or a cane.

Walt Carr
Columbia, Md.
Feb. 16, 2007

It Should Have Been Illegal Back Then

To the editor:

I’ve been a member of Kappa Alpha Psi since before brother Hunter was born. I pledged at an HBC in the south and hazing was a big part of my initiation; that was then and this is now.

It should have been illegal then. It is illegal and never condoned now.

Much like our parents thought they were doing the right thing when they “beat” us with broom handles, belts and switches. It was wrong back then and it’s certainly illegal and wrong today. But who knew?

What I am hearing from my young frat is that he was hazed and is therefore merely continuing the tradition that befell him. To this attitude, I say that in all my years of helping make Kappas, I have never laid a hand on a future brother and I have insisted that my son, who is also a Kappa, follow this lead.

I don’t want to visit him in prison for some stupid mistake. There are already too many risk factors out here for young black men. We don’t need to be assaulting one another in the form of hazing.

Bruce Johnson
Washington
Feb. 18, 2007

No Comparison With What Founders Had to Endure

Brother Hunter:

My name is Richie Bickham. I am a proud graduate of Southern University (Spring 2002 - Accounting). I am also a very proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi!

I appreciate your effort and position on the ruling on the brothers of FAMU. However, I disagree with your comparison of today's pledging and the pledging of our fellow brothers from the past who endured racial discrimination during their days as students. What we endure today does not at all compare with what our founders had to endure when founding our great fraternity!

In this particular case, these brothers went too far, now our fraternity is facing much unnecessary scrutiny. Though they were wrong, they are still our brothers! Again, I understand your position, but please do not compare our struggles to those of Brothers Diggs, Blakemore and the rest of our great founders!

Yo!

Richie Bickham
Dallas
Feb. 19, 2007